Tell Me About It
The second cool, sexy YA romance novel from seventeen-year-old Wattpad sensation and author of The Kissing Booth, Beth Reekles.

They say that the higher you climb, the harder you fall - and Madison Clarke will do anything to keep her new life from crumbling to pieces. Moving from a small town in Maine to Florida, Madison grasps the opportunity to reinvent herself, to forget about those days of being a lonely, loser outcast, and jumps at the chance when the popular kids decide to take her under their wing. A hot boyfriend, parties, friends... If only there wasn't the slight problem by the name of Dwight, a cute, funny and totally nerdy guy in Madison's physics class who she can't help but enjoy spending time with. Running from her past and stumbling through the present, who knows what lies ahead in this new life in Florida?

My Thoughts
Iv'e had Rolling Dice on my to read pile for a while, firstly from a blogger event, then I purchased a copy for YALC last year. To take a break from review books I took Rolling Dice with me on a recent trip to London.

Madison is new to Florida, moving with her family to relocate after her Nan passes away. After being bullied at her old school she is determined to turn a new page, and become a new person. So with a recent loss in weight, removal of braces and exchanging glasses for contacts, she is literally a new person, and pretty quickly one of the most popular boys at school has set his eyes on her. But Madison initially finds it hard to adjust to this new person she has become, unbelieving that people really do like her for who she is now.

Throughout Rolling Dice, there are a variety of issues that arise. The main one is Madison's past, which I will go into detail below, but first let's focus on the two new boys in her life.

Dwight first meets Madison at the coffee shop he works at, and helps her with her phone. They strike up an instant friendship, and I loved how thier personalities were great for each other. But Dwight isn't popular, he is a geek, a nerd, but someone who genuinely cares for Madison.
Carter is his best friend, who quickly joins this new friendship and is welcoming towards Madison. I do like how he too is non judgmental and goes on personality, rather than her new look as a basis.

Bryce is the popular boy, the jock. Being his friend puts Madison into the It crowd, and as she develops feelings for him, her association with Dwight and Carter is frowned upon. Bowing to peer pressure Madison soon finds her time with Dwight and Carter is dwindling, not wanting for history to repeat itself. I honestly didn't think much of him from the beginning. He is pushy and arrogant, and I have huge respect for Madison in how she deals with him, glad that the times that it mattered she didn't fall for peer pressure.

Now, back to Madison's past. In her old school she was bullied, for her weight, but her lack of enthusiasm towards sport, for her glasses, her geekyness. For this reason alone Madison was someone who I could instantly relate to as I know how she feels. I was teased about my name, my streak in my hair, and having a little bit of a belly. This was constant, especially my name and hair, from juniors right through to the end of seniors. I felt lost and alone, and even the 'friends' I had I wouldn't really call them my close friends, or someone who I could talk to. If someone would have taken me under their wing into a popular crowd I'm pretty sure I would have fallen under the pressure. But seeing this from another persons perspective really shows what she is doing and how she is hurting others, but also how hard it is for her to keep both sides happy.

Rolling Dice was a book that I finished pretty quickly, and not only did I thoroughly enjoy it, bit is was one that left a clear message behind. Madison is a character that I am sure plenty of teenagers can relate to in one way or another, and while I do think she had her goals misplaced, I am glad to see that it worked out the way I wanted it to in the end, although I wish she didn't have to be hurt to finally see the truth.

Final Verdict
Rolling Dice was an enjoyable read, and although there are a few things left open in the end, I like to think it's easy to see how it all ended.

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